Special to the Chronicle

State officials are talking about building more interstate highways.

If they do, they may likely violate state law requiring the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank to:

• Prioritize road projects using Department of Transportation criteria.

• Obtain the DOT Commission’s approval.

• Convince DOT to initiate projects for STIB to get much of their money.

These recent reforms are designed to make STIB decisions subject to the DOT and ensure all road decisions are based on the same plan.

This was to prevent STIB from picking and paying for road projects on its own.

STIB board members recently discussed a desire to expand interstates.

While nothing was voted on, the ideas included finding more money, encouraging DOT to partner with them to build interstates, and expanding their charter to allow them to circumvent DOT’s priority list and build interstates now.

STIB is designed to finance new road projects – not repair existing roads.

Many of these projects have been in only a few areas – often in the home counties of STIB board members such as Florence.

The entire state does not benefit equally.

DOT says it will be years before existing roads are completely repaired – despite the gas tax hike.

Worse, DOT may not hit that goal at the rate projects are being completed.

Lawmakers have financed STIB in an unconstitutional manner for years.

The SC Constitution says revenue bonds cannot be paid for with tax dollars.

That means they have to be financed by fees.

Since STIB produces no revenue, lawmakers created a way to give STIB tax dollars disguised as fees.

 That‘s why they named the gas tax a “fee.”

Since 1999, a penny of the gas tax has gone to STIB plus other tax revenues.

The gas tax hike passed in 2017 was designed to allow new gas tax dollars to be diverted to STIB despite lawmakers’ promises that the money would be spent to fix roads and bridges.